History of Fingerprints Crime Scene Forensics, LLC History of Fingerprints 1858 - Sir William Herschel, British Administrator in District in India, requires fingerprint and signatures on civil contracts Fingerprints have been used as a means of positively identifying people for many years. Here is a brief history of the science of fingerprints: 1892 - Sir Francis Galton, a British Anthropologist and cousin to Charles Darwin, publishes the first book on fingerprints. In his book, Galton identifies the individuality and uniqueness of fingerprints. The unique characteristics of fingerprints, as identified by Galton, will officially become known as minutiae, however they are sometimes still referred to as Galton’s Details. 1896 - International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Establish National Bureau of Criminal Identification, for the exchange of arrest information 1901 - Sir Edward Henry, an Inspector General of Police in Bengal, India, develops the first system of classifying fingerprints. This system of classifying fingerprints.

This system of classifying fingerprints was first adopted as the official system in England, and eventually spread throughout 1903 – The William West – Will West Case at a Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, changed the way that people were classified and identified When a man named Will West entered the Leavenworth Prison inmates. His face was photographed, and his Bertillion measurements were taken. Upon completion of this process, it was noted that another inmate, known as William West, who was already incarcerated at Leavenworth, had the same name, Bertillion measurements, and bore a striking resemblance to Will West. The incident called the reliability of Bertillion measurements into question, and it was decided that a more positive means of identification was necessary. As the Bertillion System began to decline, the use of fingerprints in identifying and classifying individuals began to rise. After 1903, many prison systems began to use fingerprints as the primary means of identification. 1905 – U.S. Military adopts the use of fingerprints – soon thereafter, police agencies began to adopt the use of fingerprints 1908 – The first official fingerprint card was developed 1911 - Fingerprints are first accepted by U.S.

courts as a reliable means of Identification. - Dec. 21, 1911, The Illinois State Supreme Court upheld the admissibility of fingerprint evidence concluding that fingerprints are a reliable form of identification. Thomas Jennings was the first person to be convicted of murder in the United States based on fingerprint evidence. Jennings appealed his conviction to the Illinois Supreme Court on the basis of a questionable new scientific technique. The Illinois Supreme Court cited the historical research and use of fingerprints as a means of reliable identification in upholding the conviction, and thus establishing the use of fingerprints as a reliable means of identification. Jennings was executed in 1912. 1917 - First Palm print identification is made in Nevada. The bloody palm print, found on a letter left at the scene of a stage coach robbery and murder of its driver, was identified to Ben Kuhl. (State v. Kuhl 42 Nev. 195 175 PAC 190 (1918) 1924 – Formation of ID Division of FBI 1980 – First computer data base of fingerprints was developed, which came to be known as the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, (AFIS).

In the present day, there nearly 70 million cards, or nearly 700 million individual fingerprints entered in AFIS 1882 - Alphonse Bertillion, a French anthropologist, devised method of body measurements to produce a formula used to classify individuals. This formula involves taking the measurements of a persons body parts, and recording these measurements on a card. This method of classifying and identifying people became known as the Bertillion System. To cite this website: Crime Scene Forensics, LLC, Matthews, NC; © 2015 - Crime Scene Forensics, LLC - All Rights Reserved 1880 - Dr.

Henry Faulds, a Scottish doctor in Tokyo, Japan publishes article in “Nature” 1891 - Juan Vucetich, Argentine Police Official, Initiated the fingerprinting of criminals, (First case used was the Rojas Homicide in 1892, in which the print of a woman who murdered her two sons and cut her own throat in an attempt to place the blame on another person was found on a door post) Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Fingerprints: The Origins of Crime Detection and the Murder Case that Launched Forensic Science Format: Hardcover | Verified Purchase The most interesting thing I learned from this book: Eugene Vidocq, a highly-skilled felon (whose initial crime was forging a poor peasant's pardon) traveled France, living life on the lam -- a cycle of crime, capture, escape. When Josephine's (wife of Napolean) valuable emerald necklace was stolen, French police were at a loss and sought out Vidocq's assistance in recovering the jewels, offering Vidocq immunity for his help. Vidocq found the jewelry & the thief within three days. Napolean, impressed, appointed Vidocq to a police post.

As a police appointee, Vidocq posed as a fugitive on the run to maintain his access to the criminal element, but in fact, he was acting as an undercover agent. Apparently the first to employ undercover techniques, Vidocq "singlehandedly launched police procedure out of the Middle Ages and into the nineteenth century." Les Mis fans, does this sound at all familiar? Vidocq became popular in French cultural circles (I'm not sure how this happened, given his undercover status), becoming friends with the famous writers of the day, including Victor Hugo, who based both Inspector Javert and his nemesis, Jean Valjean, on Vidocq. In addition to providing literary trivia, this book does an excellent job of detailing the evolution of criminal identification techniques, such as anthropometric measurements, the development of fingerprinting techniques, and the eventual union of the two at the turn of the century. Modern fingerprinting arose in colonial India, not as a crime-fighting technique, but as a means of providing a definitive "signature" on lease agreements. This book is very readable, with many true-crime stories and anecdotes of early police methodologies that made me cringe.

There is considerable development of the conflict over who should be credited with the application of fingerprinting to criminal identification. One of the early developers and proponents of fingerprinting actually testified for the defense at the first criminal trial during which fingerprint evidence was introduced -- largely because the prosecution's witness had essentially taken credit for the other man's achievements. No doubt the ego-driven disputes over who should get credit for "inventing" modern fingerprinting techniques delayed the widespread implementation of fingerprinting as a criminal identification methodology. 0Comment | One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse Comment Format: Hardcover | Verified Purchase The controversy over who did what, who did it first, and the Scots vs. the English, people do not want to let lie. Conspiracy makes for good reading and brain teasing. Since 1983 I have had a keen interest in Henry Faulds. I located where he is buried (England, not Scotland), along with his wife and their 2 daughters. I located living relatives of Dr. Faulds, which led others to parts of his missing fingerprint collection. At the time I was a Fellow of the Fingerprint Society.

I could go on about my experience with Faulds, Hershell, and Galton, but this is about the book. Dr. Faulds was not a scientist or scientific researcher. He was a medical doctor, and a very dedicated one. William Hershell was neither a scientist nor doctor. He was a public administrator for the English in India, overseeing payment of government funds. Dr. Faulds was the first to submit the theory that fingerprints could be used to identify a person who had committed a crime. Hershell responded that he had been using fingerprints longer than Faulds to identify fraud. Dr. Faulds deserves credit for suggesting fingerprints from a crime scene could identify the suspect. Hershell deserves credit for realizing that using an inked impression of a finger could deter fraud. Realizing that neither Faulds nor Hershell were scientists, English authorities requested Galton, recognized by his peers as an academic and scientific researcher, look into the claims of Faulds and Hershell. Edward Henry and his classification system came later. Galton's findings resulted in further research by others, leading eventually to the introduction of the use of fingerprints as a means of identifying people, both from scenes of crimes and from inked impressions.

The personalities and politics of the people and time in history help make this book interesting reading. Faulds, for reasons we can only guess, did testify for the defense that a print from a crime scene was not that of the accused, in direct conflict with the prosecution and opinion of the fingerprint branch. The print in question was obtained by the Fingerprint Society in the 1980's, and observed by many experts, and myself, to clearly match that of the accused. Faulds was wrong, and I think he knew it. Why he did what he did is known only to him. But it does not change the fact that he deserves credit for being the first to submit to a scientific journal that prints from a crime scene could be used to identify criminals. In this, Beavan is right on the mark. But Hershell and Galton are also due recognition for their different and separate contributions. I recommend this book, it is one person's view of this part of history. It is accurate in many details, and the conclusions drawn are not new. Others felt the same before this author.

Faulds, Hershell, Galton and likely a number of people in India at the time, are all due credit for the birth and delivery of fingerprints as a means of identification. 0Comment | One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse Comment Fingerprints: The First ID - FindLaw Fingerprints: The First ID Download article as a PDF Fingerprints are the oldest and most accurate method of identifying individuals. No two people (not even identical twins) have the same fingerprints, and it is extremely easy for even the most accomplished criminals to leave incriminating fingerprints at the scene of a crime. How Are Fingerprints Identified? Each fingerprint has a unique set of ridges and points that can be seen and identified by trained experts. If two fingerprints are compared and one has a point not seen on the other, those fingerprints are considered different. If there are only matching points and no differences, the fingerprints can be deemed identical. There is no set number of points required, but the more points, the stronger the identification. Fingerprints can be visible or latent; latent fingerprints can often be seen with special ultraviolet lights, although on some surfaces a simple flashlight will identify the print.

Experts use fingerprint powder or chemicals to set a print; they then "lift" the print using special adhesives. How Long Have Fingerprints Been Used? The use of fingerprints for identification goes back to ancient times. In ancient Babylonia and China, thumbprints and fingerprints were used on clay tablets and seals as signatures. The idea that fingerprints might be unique to individuals dates from the fourteenth century . In 1686 the physiologist Marcello Malpighi examined fingerprints under a microscope and noted a series of ridges and loops. In 1823, another physiologist, Jan Purkinje, noted at least nine different fingerprint patterns. The pioneer in fingerprint identification was Sir Francis Galton, an anthropologist by training, who was the first to show scientifically how fingerprints could be used to identify individuals. Beginning in the 1880s, Galton (a cousin of Charles Darwin) studied fingerprints to seek out hereditary traits. He determined through his studies not only that no two fingerprints are exactly alike, but also that fingerprints remain constant throughout an individual's lifetime.

Galton published a book on his findings in 1892 in which he listed the three most common fingerprint types: loop, whorl, and arch. These classifications are still used today. It did not take long for law enforcement officials to recognize the potential value of fingerprint evidence. Sir Edward Richard Henry, a British official stationed in India, began to develop a system of fingerprint identification for Indian criminals. (Henry created 1,024 primary fingerprint classifications.) In Argentina, Juan Vucetich, a police official, also used Galton's findings to create a fingerprint system (he used Galton's research to make a fingerprint identification of a murderer in 1892). By the beginning of the twentieth century, Scotland Yard had begun to compile fingerprint information, using a classification system based on Henry's work and creating a Central Fingerprint Bureau. In the United States, the New York Police Department, the New York State Prison System, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons instituted a fingerprint system in 1903, and in 1905, the U.S. Army began using fingerprint identification.

The first murder case in the United States in which fingerprint evidence was used successfully was in Illinois in 1910, when Thomas Jennings was accused of murdering Clarence Hiller after his fingerprints were found at Hiller's house. Jennings appealed his conviction, but the Supreme Court of Illinois upheld the evidence in 1911 and Jennings was executed in February 1912. People v. Jennings thus established fingerprint evidence as a reliable standard . Use Of Fingerprints Today The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established a fingerprint repository through its Identification Division beginning in 1924. This repository held fingerprint cards in a central location. Over the next 50 years the FBI processed more than 200 million fingerprint cards. To eliminate duplicate fingerprints and make it easier to store and share fingerprints among law enforcement agencies, the FBI developed the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) in 1991, which computerized the card system. The Integrated AFIS system (IAFIS) was introduced in 1999 ; a law enforcement official can request a set of criminal prints from IAFIS and get a response within two hours.

Fingerprints are kept for criminals, but civil fingerprints are also kept. People who apply for government jobs, jobs that handle confidential information, banking jobs, teaching jobs, law enforcement jobs, and any job that involves security issues can be fingerprinted. IAFIS stores civil prints as well as criminal prints. Get a Legal Evaluation of Your Criminal Case for Free If you are involved in a criminal case, particularly if you are the primary defendant, you will want to make sure evidence used against you is in fact valid and used within the proper context. The existence of your fingerprints at the scene, for instance, may not necessarily prove that you did the crime. If you have questions about this or any other aspects of your case, you can have a criminal defense attorney review your case at no cost to you . Next Steps DEVELOPMENT OF FORENSIC SCIENCE THROUGH AGES / HISTORY : HISTORY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES INTRODUCTION Crime in some form or the other has existed since the beginning of human race. With the advancement in science and technology the concept of crime as well as the methods adopted by criminals in its commission have undergone a phenomenal change.

On one hand the intelligent criminal has been quick to exploit science for his criminal acts , on the other hand the investigator is no longer able to rely on age old art of interrogation and methods to detect crime. In this context FORENSIC SCIENCE has found its existence. FORENSIC SCIENCE : Definition The term forensic is derived from the Latin word forensis which means belonging to courts of justice or to public discussion and debate. it therefore means the science which is used in courts for justice. CRIMINALISTICS is synonym used in U.S.A. If you remember the term ï¿½Eurekaï¿½, then you would also know where the History of Forensic Science started. History considers Archimedes (287-212 BC), the man behind the exclamation ï¿½Eureka,ï¿½ as the father of forensic science. He had exulted when he had found out that a crown was not made of gold, (as it was falsely claimed) by its density and buoyancy. After Archimedes we come to know of another early forensic science application by Soleiman, an Arabic merchant of the 7th century. He used fingerprints as a proof of validity between debtors and lenders.

In the 700s, the Chinese also used the fingerprint concept. In the 1000s, Quintilian, a prosecutor in the Roman courts, used a similar method to solve murders. The first document that mentions the use of Forensics in legal matters is the book Xi Yuan Ji Lu (translated as ï¿½Collected Cases of Injustice Rectifiedï¿½) written in 1248 by Chinese author Song Ci. Forensic science became quite widespread in 16th century Europe. Medics began to use their knowledge to investigate the cause of death. Ambrose Parï¿½, a French army surgeon, two Italian surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia were some of the pioneers in this field. Then we have a series of written record like ï¿½A Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Healthï¿½ by the French physician Fodï¿½rï¿½ and ï¿½The Complete System of Police Medicineï¿½ by the German medic Johann Peter Franck and the first dissertation on systematic document examination published by Franï¿½ois Demelle of France.

In 1686, Marcello Malpighi, a professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna, identified the fingerprint method. In the 18th century, many scholars did some groundbreaking work in Forensics. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele and German chemist Valentin Ross led the way. England also solved a number of murder cases using forensic science. For instance, in the year 1784 in Lancaster, John Toms was convicted of murder, when a torn bit of a newspaper in a gun was found matching a leftover paper in his pocket. In the 19th century, scholars like Thomas Bewick, an English naturalist, Spanish professor of medicinal/forensic chemistry Mathiew Orfila, John Evangelist Purkinji, professor of anatomy at the University of Breslau, to name a few, made history in forensic science. Eugï¿½ne Franï¿½ois Vidocq is another name in record since he established the first detective force, the Sï¿½retï¿½ of Paris. Then can we forget Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote the first Sherlock Holmes case in Beetonï¿½s Christmas Annual of London?

In the 20th century, there was no stopping the forensic timeline. It was the time when we got the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI launched its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) with the first computerized scans. With the arrival of the computer, there was no looking back. Today there is no crime solving without forensic science. The History of Forensic Science is there to prove its worth. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCIENCE THROUGH AGES In the beginning of the 19th century, natural sciences began to develop rapidly. Justice was always in search of impartial evidence, as against testimony of unwilling, hostile, indifferent witnesses. At the same time , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , through his fictional character Sherlock Holmes popularized scientific crime detection methods. This help publicize amongst scientists and investigators that science could aid in criminal detection. most pioneering work originated in Europe. many can be cited as contributors in building the foundation. MATHIEU ORFILA Father of modern toxicology. In the early part of the 19th century he established in Paris methods of scientific chemical analysis of poisons , which are in use even today.

ALPHONSE BERTILLON of France was 1st to evolve a scientific system of personal identification. in 1879 he developed the science of ANTHROPOMETRY, a systemic procedure of taking a series of body measurements to facilitate distinguishing one individual from another. With the invention of photography he was the first to use it in criminal investigation. IN 1881 , he began to take standard pictures of all French criminals and file them in the Bureau of Identification than in Paris. His efforts have earned him the distinction of being known as the Father of Criminal Investigation. FRANCIS GALTON of U.K. undertook the first systemic study of fingerprints. He developed a methodology of classifying the fingerprints for filing purposes .in 1892, he published a book on fingerprints giving a sound statistical proof of uniqueness of individualization through fingerprints. HANS GROSS of Austria, a lawyer by profession, spent many years studying the principles of criminal investigation. He published a book on criminal investigation (later published in English) , a classic in 1893 , 'Handbuch fur Untersuchnugsrichter'.

EDMOND LOCARD in 1910 established a police laboratory in Lyons and later founded the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons. he propounded the famous PRINCIPLE OF EXCHANGE , which forms the basis of forensic examination of physical evidence. KARL LANDSTEINER in 1901 discovered that blood could be grouped into different categories. Following this Dr. Leone Lattes of Italy devised a relatively simple procedure for determining the blood group of dried bloodstains and immediately adopted this technique for criminal investigation. CALVIN GODDARD a U.S. army colonel perfected the science of ballistics . He developed a comparison microscope for comparison of crime and test fired bullets to determine whether or not a particular weapon was used in the offence. ALBERT OSBORN developed fundamental principles of document examination, which gave acceptance to documents as scientific evidence by the courts. in 1910 he wrote the classic QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS which is primary book of reference for document experts. During the post World War I period, Locard's successes in the application of scientific methods in criminal investigation served as a impetus for formation of police labs in Berlin, Vienna , Sweden , Finland and Holland .

This was followed by formation of a forensic lab in Los Angeles Police Department in USA in 1923. In 1932, FBI organised a national lab ,which offered forensic services to all the law enforcement agencies in USA by establishing Metropolitan Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Scotland Yard in 1935. After World War II there was a sudden spurt in crime rate due to large scale availability of firearms. further, due to mobility an documentation organised and white collar crime proliferated. Western countries had to mobilize scientific aids to combat the growing menace. Today U.S. alone has about 250 labs . A small country as UK established 11 more regional labs in different parts. another development was the creation of central research establishment in Aldermaston in 1966 , wholly devoted to basic research in forensic science. Japan has a huge national research institute of forensic science in Tokyo and several regional labs. west Germany set up over 21 forensic labs . Italy 13 , France 4 , Canada 7 and Switzerland 4 . There are as many as 1100 forensic science laboratories in 89 countries.

F01: Unit 1: Introduction to Forensics and the Crime scene | Kenan Fellows F01: Unit 1: Introduction to Forensics and the Crime scene F01: Unit 1: Introduction to Forensics and the Crime scene Unit 1: Introduction to Forensics and the Crime Scene Lesson Plan 1: Introduction to the practice of Forensics Science Introductory Notes from "Criminalistics" Saperstein, pp.1-17 Evidence Collection, Criminal Evidence and the Crime Scene Criminal Evidence Notes on Crime Scene from "Criminalistics" Saperstein, pp.33-48 b) CSI investigator speaker with a powerpoint presentation about a homicide, a suicide and a natural death.

(Contact your local or state law enforcement agency, or local resource school officer.) Lesson Plan 3: Famous Criminal Cases Convicted by Forensic Science - (Any of these stories could be used when covering specific topics or as part of the introduction.) Stella Nickell from "The Casebook of Forensic Detection" by Colin Evans George Ross from "The Casebook of Forensic Detection" by Colin Evans Poisoning Tylenol (Cyanide murders) Excedrin (Arsenic murders) after the Tylenol murders, there were many copycat murders, this in one: References: Saperstein, Richard, "Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science," Prentice Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle, NJ 07458, 2001. ISBN 0-13-013827-4 Video: "Court TV Forensics Collection" 5 episodes on 1 tape (1995-1999, approximately 2 hours) Court TV. 600 Third Ave. NY, NY 10016.

Maples, William R., "Dead Man Do Tell Tales," Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, 1994. (Information on Anthropology - easy and interesting to read) ISBN 0-385-47968-9 Websites: Activity 3: Study famous criminal cases (refer to lesson plans for unit I) Supplemental Information: Introduction and Overview of Forensics Notes These notes are based on the textbook "Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science" seventh edition by Richard Saperstein (ed. Prentice Hall, 2001 pp. 1-22) Chapter 1 Introduction: Definition and Scope Forensic Science is the application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system. The focus of Forensic Science is the Crime Lab using the principles and techniques of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Anthropology and other sciences in order to place physical evidence into a professional discipline.

History and Development of Forensic Science Many believe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had a considerable influence on popularizing scientific crime-detection methods through his fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. Read the quote from "A Study in Scarlet" 1887 on p.3 of "Criminalistics" by Richard Saperstein. "I've found it! I've found it," he shouted to my companion, running towards us with a test-tube in his hand. "I have found a re-agent which is precipitated by haemoglobin, and by nothing else . . . . Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years. Don't you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains? . . . . The old guaiacum test was very clumsy and uncertain. So is the microscopic examination for blood corpuscles. The latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old. Now, this appears to act as well whether the blood is old or new. Had this test been invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long ago have paid the penalty of their crimes. . . . Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point.

A man is suspected of a crime months perhaps after it has been committed. His linen or clothes are examined and brownish stains discovered upon them. Are they blood stains, or mud stains, or rust stains, or fruit stains, or what are they? That is a question which has puzzled many an expert, and why? Because there was no reliable test. Now we have the Sherlock Holmes's test, and there will no longer be any difficulty." Mathieu Orfila: Is considered the father of forensic toxicology. He wrote first treatise on poisons and their effects in 1814. Aphonse Bertillon: devised the first scientific system of personal identification, using body measurements known as anthropometry. Francis Galton: undertook the first definitive study of fingerprints and developed a method of classifying fingerprints. Leone Lattes: devised a simple procedure for determining the blood type (A,B,O,AB) of a dried bloodstain. Calvin Goddard: was the first to use a comparison microscope to determine if a bullet was fired from a specific gun. Albert S. Osborn: developed fundamental principles of document analysis and was responsible for the acceptance of documents as scientific evidence by the courts.

Hans Gross: described the application of scientific disciplines to the field of criminal investigation. He introduced the first forensic journal, "Kriminologie". He described how forensics would be assisted by the fields of microscopy, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, zoology, botany, anthropometry and fingerprinting. Edmond Locard: demonstrated how the principles developed by Hans Gross could be incorporated into a workable crime lab. Locard's exchange principle states that once contact is made between two surfaces a transfer of material(s) will occur. Locard founded and directed the Institute of Criminalistics in Lyons, France. Organization of a Crime Laboratory Crime laboratories have been organized by agencies that foresaw their potential application to criminal investigation. Since the 1960's the number of crime labs increased due to the courts demanding secure scientifically evaluated evidence. Services of the Crime Laboratory Many local crime laboratories have been created solely for the purpose of processing evidence, currently most of their energy and funds are used to analyze drugs and DNA. In 1932, Hoover first established a national forensics laboratory to support all law enforcement in the U.S.

The oldest American forensics laboratory is in Los Angeles, California, created in 1923 by August Volmer. Basic Services Provided by Full-Service Crime Laboratories Physical Science Unit: applies the principles and techniques of chemistry, physics and geology to the identification and comparison of crime-scene evidence. Biology Unit: identifies dried bloodstains and body fluids, compares hairs and fibers, identifes and compares botanical materials such as wood and plants, and performs DNA analysis. Firearms Unit: examines firearms, discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types. Document Examination Unit: analyzes handwriting, paper and printers of documents. Photography Unit: examines and records physical evidence at the crime scene and at suspects' locations. Optional Services Provided by Full-Service Crime Labs Toxicology Unit: examines body fluids and organs in order to determine the presence and identification of drugs and poisons. Latent Fingerprint Unit: processes and examines evidence for latent fingerprints i.e. those found on surfaces. Polygraph Unit: uses lie detectors, an essential tool of the crime investigator rather than the forensic scientist. Voiceprint Analysis Unit: are involved in cases of telephone threats or tape-recorded messages. Investigators may be able to connect a voice to a particular suspect.

Evidence-Collection Unit: incorporates evidence collection into a total forensic science service. The Functions of The Forensic Scientist Analysis of Physical Evidence: The forensic scientist must be skilled in applying the principles and techniques of the physical and natural sciences in order to identify the many types of evidence that may be recovered during crime investigations. The "Frye versus U.S." court case established that a scientific technique must be "generally accepted" by the scientific community. (p.12, "Criminalistics" Saperstein Latent Fingerprint Unit: processes and examines evidence for latent fingerprints i.e. those found on surfaces. Expert witness: An expert witness possesses a particular skill or has knowledge in a trade or profession that will aid the court in determining the truth. Specially trained evidence collection technicians: Training in Proper Recognition, Collection, and Preservation of Evidence is required so that the forensic pathologist, as the medical examiner or coroner, can determine the cause of death via an autopsy. Other Forensic Science Services Death can be classified into five different categories: natural death, homicide, suicide, accident or undetermined manner of death. Forensic Pathology: The cause of death can often be determined by performing an autopsy.

Rigor mortis: immediately following death, the muscles relax and then become rigid, shortening of the muscles. Livor mortis: when the human heart stops pumping, due to the blood begins to settle in the parts of the body closest to the ground due to gravity. The skin will appear dark blue or purple in these lower areas close to the ground. Algor mortis: the process in which the body temperature continually cools after death until it reaches room temperature, enabling the medical examiner to establish the general time of death. Forensic Anthropology: primarily involves the identification and examination of skeletal remains, in order to determine if the remains are human or another type of animal. If human, ethnicity, sex, approximate age, and manner of death can often be determined by an anthropologist. Forensic Entomology: is the study of insects and their developmental stages, which can help to determine the time of death by knowing when those stages normally appear in the insect's life cycle. Forensic Psychiatry: is the study of human behavior and legal proceedings in both civil and criminal cases. In civil and criminal cases, competency often needs to be determined. In criminal trials, the evaluation of behavior disorders is often required in order to establish the psychological profile of a suspect.

Forensic Odontology: An odontologist can match bite marks to a suspect's teeth, or match a victim to his dental x-rays, resulting in an identification of an unknown individual. Forensic Engineering: is used to analyze construction accidents, and the causes and origins of fires or explosions. Forensic Analysis also can include organic and inorganic analytical techniques. Organic analysis of unknown substances includes analytical techniques such as Chromatography, UV- visible and infrared Spectrophotometry and Mass Spectrometry. Chromatography is a means of separating and identifying organic components. Chromatography is especially useful in mixture separation i.e. many illicit drugs contain different materials which dilute the drug. Gas Chromatography separates molecules using a high temperature system to vaporize all the components which are subsequently separated on a column. Combining gas chromatography with mass spectrometry is currently one of the most accurate methods used to identify of an unknown substance. Inorganic analysis includes techniques such as the emission spectrum of elements, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry, Neutron Activation Analysis, and X-Ray Diffraction Analysis. References: Saperstein, Richard, "Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science," pp. 1-22.

Prentice Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle, NJ 07458, 2001. ISBN 0-13-013827-4 (textbook with lots of background information and figures) Supplemental Files: Forensic science Timeline Home > Timelines > Forensic science Timeline Forensic science Timeline Timeline Description: Forensic science is the application of science and technology to investigate criminal acts. This area of science, once prone to numerous errors and misinterpretation, is now one of the most important pieces of a case in modern law. Date 44 BC Death of an emperor Julius Caesar is assassinated. Following this event, a physician performed an autopsy, and determined that of the 23 wounds found on the body, only one was fatal. 400 Who determines cause of death(400s) Germanic and Slavic societies made law that medical experts must be the ones to determine cause of death in crimes. 600 Use of fingerprints for the first time (600s) Fingerprints first used to determine identity. Arabic merchants would take a debtor's fingerprint and attach it to the bill.

1248 First forensic science book First forensic science manual published by the Chinese. This was the first known record of medical knowledge being used to solve criminal cases. 1600 1784 Physical evidence used in criminal case First recorded instance of physical matching of evidence leading to a murder conviction (John Toms, England). Evidence was a torn edge of newspaper in a pistol that matched newspaper in his pocket. 1806 Investigating poisoning German chemist Valentin Ross developed a method of detecting arsenic in a victim's stomach, thus advancing the investigation of poison deaths. 1816 More physical evidence discovered to work in forensics Clothing and shoes of a farm laborer were examined and found to match evidence of a nearby murder scene, where a young woman was found drowned in a shallow pool. 1836 Chemical testing utilized James Marsh, an English chemist, uses chemical processes to determine arsenic as the cause of death in a murder trial. 1854 First uses of photos in identification (1854-59 ) San Francisco uses photography for criminal identification, the first city in the US to do so.

1880 Fingerprints found to be unique Henry Faulds and William James Herschel publish a paper describing the uniqueness of fingerprints. Francis Galton, a scientist, adapted their findings for the court. Galton's system identified the following patterns: plain arch, tented arch, simple loop, central pocket loop, double loop, lateral pocket loop, plain whorl, and accidental. 1887 Sherlock Holmes and the coroner Coroner's act established that coroners' were to determine the causes of sudden, violent, and unnatural deaths. Arthur Conan Doyle also publishes the first Sherlock Holmes story. 1892 Fingerprint ID used in crime Juan Vucetich, an Argentinean police officer, is the first to use fingerprints as evidence in a murder investigation. He created a system of fingerprint identification, which he termed dactyloscopy. 1888 Criminal features reduced to numerical measurements Anthropometry, a system using various measurements of physical features and bones, used throughout the US and Europe. Using the system, a criminal's information could be reduced to a set of numbers.

1901 Investigations into blood markers Human blood grouping, ABO, discovered by Karl Landsteiner and adapted for use on bloodstains by Dieter Max Richter. 1901 Fingerprint ID more common Galton-Henry system of fingerprint identification officially used by Scotland Yard, and is the most widely used fingerprinting method to date. 1903 First fingerprint prisoner ID used NY state prison system implemented fingerprint identification. 1909 First school of forensic science founded by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, in Switzerland. 1910 Hair now used in forensics Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert publish first study on hair, including microscopic studies from most animals. First legal case ever involving hair also took place following this study. 1912 Guns are unique Victor Balthazard realizes that tools used to make gun barrels never leave the same markings, and individual gun barrels leave identifying grooves on each bullet fired through it. He developed several methods of matching bullets to guns via photography. 1923 First police crime lab established in Los Angeles. 1930 Lie detection Prototype polygraph, which was invented by John Larson in 1921, developed for use in police stations.

1932 Crime experts build lab FBI establishes its own crime laboratory, now one of the foremost crime labs in the world. This same year, a chair of legal medicine at Harvard was established. 1960 Voice recording, used as evidence (1960s) A sound spectrograph discovered to be able to record voices. Voiceprints began to be used in investigations and as court evidence from recordings of phones, answering machines, or tape recorders. 1967 First national crime system FBI established the National Crime Information Center, a computerized national filing system on wanted people, stolen vehicles, weapons, etc. 1974 Advances in residue detection Technology developed at Aerospace Corporation in the US to detect gunshot residue, which can link a suspect to a crime scene, and can show how close that suspect was to the gun. 1975 First fingerprint reader installed at the FBI 1979 Auto fingerprint system first used Royal Canadian Mounted Police implement first automatic fingerprint identification system. 1984 DNA technique for unique ID DNA fingerprinting techniques developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys.

1983 Advances in DNA lead to conviction (1983-86) DNA fingerprinting led to conviction of Colin Pitchfork in the murder of two teenage girls. This evidence cleared the main suspect in the case, who likely would have been convicted without it. 1987 Tommy Lee Andrews convicted of a series of sexual assaults, using DNA profiling. 1996 National Academy of Sciences announces DNA evidence is reliable. 1999 Faster fingerprint IDs FBI establishes the integrated automated fingerprint identification system, cutting down fingerprint inquiry response from two weeks to two hours. 2001 Jim Fisher - Timeline 1837-1900: There were seven attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria. They were all unsuccessful. 1849-1902: 210 vigilante movements in the American West 1850-1900: The golden era of the con game in the U.S. 1850-1900: U.S. cities were still unsafe. European cities were bringing crime under control.

1850-1860: Los Angeles suffered from a high homicide rate 1850: American cities were expanding at an exceedingly rapid rate 1850: China  Millions were addicted to opium 1851: San Francisco’s first vigilance committee established 1857: There were 80,000 prostitutes in London 1859: An arsonist burned down a famous NYC museum 1860-1907: Adam Worth, England’s greatest thief, was active 1860: The dime novel was created. It made heroes out of the outlaws of the American West ------ Gangs called tongs controlled San Francisco’s underworld ------ Constance Kent Case  England  Murder ------ It was estimated that half the paper money in the U.S. was counterfeit 1861: Allan Pinkerton frustrated a plot on President Lincoln’s life 1864: Ma Mandlebaum was the biggest fence in NYC 1865: President Lincoln assassinated ------ First major bank robbery in the U.S.

at Concord, MA 1866: There were 615 houses of prostitution in NYC 1867: Allan Pinkerton broke a wiretapping swindle involving the Stock Exchange 1868: Pinkerton detectives arrested the Reno brothers (train robbers) 1869-1878: Wave of major bank burglaries in the U.S. 1870: The Prime Minister of Spain was assassinated 1872-1878: Sicily  Mafia vendettas wiped out towns 1873: Jesse James gang robbed a train by first wrecking it 1874: Charley Ross Kidnapping Case  First U.S. kidnapping for ransom 1875-1880: First serious crime was in the U.S. 1876: James and Younger gangs wiped out by townspeople in Northfield, Minnesota 1877: Crime in the U.S.

had shifted from the frontier to the city ------ Pinkerton men arrested men attempting to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body ------ Pinkerton troops broke up the Mollie Maquires gang 1880-1905: 551 persons in England and Wales were convicted of murder 1881: President James A. Garfield was assassinated 1882: Jesse James was shot by one of his own gang members for the reward ------ Jack-the-Ripper Case  England  Murder 1889: Maybrick Case  England  Murder 1890: Hennessy Case  U.S.  Murder ------ Bill Doolin gang active in Oklahoma territory 1892: Dalton gang wiped out in Coffeyville, Kansas ------ Johnson County Range War in Wyoming ------ Homestead, PA labor violence involving Pinkerton guards and union members ------ Lizzie Borden Case  U.S.

 Murder 1894: President Carnot of France assassinated 1896: America’s first mass murderer was hanged 1898: Heroin was introduced to the world by the Bayor Company of Germany Forensic Science 1856: German pathologist Johann L. Casper published Practical Manual of Forensic Medicine 1858: William Herschel took palm prints of natives in India for non-criminal ID purposes 1859: Photography was first used as evidence in a California case 1863: German scientist Schonbein found a way to generally ID bloodstains 1869: German Emil Pfaff wrote the first treatise on the forensic aspects of hair 1874: Dr. Theodor Billroth guessed that all human blood is not the same 1875: The Sylvia Howland will case at New Bedford, MA was the first major U.S. questioned documents case ------ French pathologist Ambroise wrote of death by suffocation and bullet wounds ------ Italian physiologist Mosso studied scientific lie detection 1875-1900: In England, Forensic Medicine was not used in crime detection.

In Europe it was fully recognized 1876: French scientist Albert Florence developed a way to detect semen traces ------ Italian Cesare Lombroso wrote, The Criminal Man 1877: Elective coroners were abolished in Boston ------ Joseph T. Lewis Case  U.S.  Questioned Documents ------ Thomas Edison invented a voiceprint machine, its potential in crime detection was unknown 1878: Fire victims in a Vienna Opera House were identified by their teeth ------ Massachusetts became the first state to abolish the office of coroner 1879: The Affray at Brownsville, Texas firearms identification case ------ Englishman Francis Galton studied word association tests as a method of lie detection 1880: Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne was appointed the head of the Lyons Institute of Forensic Medicine in France ------ Englishman Henry Faulds wrote on the subject of fingerprints. He was the first to consider fingerprints as a method of crime detection. 1881: Alphonse Bertillon established his Bureau of Judicial Identification, making it the first organized effort to take and preserve photographs of criminals.

1882: German pathologist Edward von Hofman determined how to tell is a person was alive at the time of a fire or burned after death. 1883: Frenchman Alphonse Bertillon, the father of scientific crime detection, made his first anthropometric criminal identification 1889: Eyraud and Bompard Case  France  forensic medicine 1891: Carlyle Harris Case  U.S.  Toxicology ------ In Argentina, Juan Vucetich developed his own method of fingerprint classification 1892: Sir Francis Galton, English biologist, wrote the first book on the classification of fingerprints 1893: Austrian lawyer and judge Hans Gross, the co-father or scientific crime detection, published his famous text on criminal investigation 1894: Dryfus Case  France  Treason/questioned documents 1895: German physicist William Roetgen discovered X-ray photography ------ U.S.

court denied a hypnotist’s testimony in a criminal case 1896: Argentina was the first country to base its identification system on fingerprints ------ Adolf Beck Case  England  fingerprints 1898: Molyneux Case  U.S.  questioned documents ------ German scientist Paul Jeserich began comparing bullets in his crime laboratory Law Enforcement 1837-1900: England  Police used no scientific crime detection methods 1850-1860: Police brutality in U.S. at a high point 1850: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department founded 1852: New Orleans and Cincinnati started preventative police forces run by chiefs of police 1855: Boston’s paid watch turned into the Boston Police Department 1856: New York was first city in U.S. to uniform its police 1860: Chicago Police Department established its first detective squad 1865: U.S.

Secret Service was organized ------ Massachusetts formed its state police 1867: Cleveland Police Department began photographing arrestees 1869: Los Angeles established a police department 1870-1895: Era of legendary sheriffs in the American west 1870-1895: Police corruption in large U.S. cities 1872: First police strike in London 1873: North West Mounted police of Canada formed 1882: NYPD established its detective bureau 1884: Allan Pinkerton died. He was the first detective in U.S., pioneered the idea of criminal records, his was the first company to fight crime interstate, and he started the first contract guard service in the U.S. 1886: Thomas Byrnes, Chief of Detectives, NYPD, published Professional Criminals of America 1888: England  Watches were slowly being replace in cities other than London 1889: Philadelphia began its mounted patrol with 93 horses 1891: William J.

Burns became a Secret Service Agent 1892-1895: Parkhurst Crusade and the Lexow Hearings were conducted in NYC 1893: An organization later named the International Association of Chiefs of Police formed 1895: Paris police established a dog force in response to the growing problem of street gangs 1898: A police academy was opened in New Zealand 1899: The police department in Ghent, Belgium started the first successful European canine unit Criminal Law 1866: Fourteenth Amendment added to the U.S. Constitution 1868: England  public executions were prohibited 1874: England  law passed that required the reportage of births and deaths Crime Prevention and Private Security 1850: Allan Pinkerton started his detective agency in Chicago ------ First manufactured safes were cast iron boxes with weak locking devices 1851: London Lock Exhibition 1853: The first private electric alarm business in U.S.

was started in Boston 1855: Allan Pinkerton formed the North West Police Agency to provide protection for 6 midwestern railroad companies 1857: Pinkerton formed the Pinkerton Protection Patrol to provide watchman services, thus starting the first contract uniform guard company in the U.S. 1858: Allan Pinkerton hired the first female detective 1859: The Brinks Company was founded in Chicago 1861: American Linus Yale introduced the pin tumbler lock 1869: The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was the first security company in the U.S. to gross $1 million a year 1872: The first U.S.

central station burglar alarm company was started in Brooklyn, NY ------ By this time, William and Robert Pinkerton were taking control of their father’s company 1874: James Sargent invented the first American time lock 1878: Western Union got into the alarm business ------ About this time window foil alarms (and screen alarms) were developed 1880-1890: The American Banker’s Association hired Pinkerton Agency to investigate bank robbery, burglary, and forgery cases 1893: Congress passed the Pinkerton Act This page was last updated on: Sunday, January 13, 2008

Question: Francis Galton pioneered which aid to crime detection?
Answer: Fingerprints